Labor dispute is Family Court project's latest snag

For powerful union leader John J. "Johnny Doc" Dougherty, the very notion has been an outrage: a non-union electrical contractor working to build a $140 million courthouse in the heart of Philadelphia.

Adding insult to injury, the building would be the new home of Family Court, where the chief judge is his brother Kevin.

For the last two weeks, work on the project has effectively stalled while John Dougherty seeks to roll back the state's decision to award the electrical work to the Farfield Group, a non-union contractor from Lititz, Lancaster County.

Farfield was awarded the job by the Department of General Services even though a union contractor was the low bidder. Dougherty, business manager of Local 98, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, has filed a taxpayers' suit to protest the award.

Union officials and workers from the building trades have been gathering every morning at the job site, 15th and Arch Streets. They have not been carrying picket signs, but the message has been loud and clear. Other union companies won't cross the gates.

U.S. Rep. Bob Brady (D., Phila.) has called a Tuesday-morning meeting with Farfield executives and union leaders to try to reach a settlement.

"We're going to try to work it out," said Brady, also the city Democratic leader. "We've had enough turmoil with this Family Court building. We don't need any more."

The dispute is the latest issue to bedevil the courthouse, a 14-story building that is to replace the run-down and crowded facilities that now accommodate juvenile cases, divorces, and custody hearings.

This is a big public works project, and hundreds of construction workers are eager for the steady paychecks.

But Dougherty has drawn a line: The project won't go forward with non-union electrical workers if he can help it. And the other building trades unions are honoring Dougherty's informal pickets.

Dougherty did not respond to requests for comment.

A no-bid deal to build the courthouse was nearly complete last year - after $12 million in fees were paid - but it blew up after The Inquirer revealed that Jeffrey Rotwitt, a lawyer working for the courts, had joined Donald Pulver as co-developer. Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court supervised those dealings personally.

The state stepped in, paid Pulver a further $1.1 million, and took over the project. It put the project out for bids and awarded four contracts, shaving millions off the original $200 million budget.

The Gordon Group of Feasterville submitted the low bid for the electrical work, at $22.1 million. Farfield bid $22.4 million but got the award because DGS said the company scored higher on other criteria, including technical ability with "green building" construction.

In a lawsuit, Gordon argued that DGS acted unfairly. It also said that Farfield should have been disqualified from bidding because of previous violations of prevailing-wage laws.

The City of Reading also suspended company vice president Edward Nescot's master electrical license because Farfield used improperly licensed electricians for a job there, records show.

Last Friday, the state Supreme Court split, 3-3, on whether to hold up the award to Farfield while lower courts decide on the merits of the protest. The tie meant the stay did not happen.

Castille recused himself from the vote, but another Philadelphia justice, Seamus McCaffery, wrote in a dissenting opinion: "It is not in the public interest to allow this project to proceed where any aspect of the construction process may . . . be questioned."

Undoing the knot on this Family Court bid will not be easy, since the DGS insists that Farfield rightly won the job. The agency would have to agree to any deal reached involving Farfield, Gordon, and Dougherty.

One idea under discussion would have Farfield agree to hire some or all union labor - and to bring on Gordon as a subcontractor and split the work, according to sources.

Local 98 has ramped up the pressure by distributing a booklet of documents involving Farfield's past wage cases, complete with a color picture of a Family Court drawing on the cover. The title is "Courting Major Problems."

Troy Thompson, a DGS spokesman, said he could not comment on the dispute because the lawsuit is pending. He said he was unaware that work had been halted and said the agency was not involved in the Brady meeting.

"We haven't been approached for any talks or anything like that," he said.

Developer Daniel Keating, who won the main construction bid, did not return a call seeking comment.

Farfield president Dennis Pierce declined to comment on the case, referring calls to DGS. Nescot, the vice president, also declined comment.